6am – about to head off. Hopefully it's not raining in France (as it is here – typical London weather!)



Memories flooded back when we were on the motorway (M20) toward the Euro Tunnel as the rain got heavier… this time we were prepared!



A lot of Port-a-Loos on the M20 – Could have had a **** every 50meters!



Line up for the Euro Tunnel Train



Euro Tunnel – Train carrying vehicles through a tunnel that is under water between England and France. Driving in the train to find a parking spot was a slight challenge when you are riding on a rubber right hand car tyre track width runway-like runner. Before we knew it we heard a reminder to drive on the right hand side of the road….





We spotted a café in Calais and decided to stop for a quick coffee. The sign on the building said 'café’ but actually it was an old man’s bar with no Tea or food. There were 3 old men sitting at the bar, drinking alcohol at 10am!!!





Jouney on the A16 to Paris. 16 degrees, raining, heavy winds, fog and ‘watch for deer’ caution signs at 130km per hr (110 km hr in wet conditions as alternatively signed).

Welcome to France! Heated hand grips and wet weather gear were put to good use.





We bumped into this couple who were on the Euro Tunnel with us after fueling up! We stopped 100km into the trip to fuel up at Aire De Baie De Somme. When attempting to fuel the bike up – the petrol station attendant was on the loud speaker saying something in French twice – it was to us to inform us that we had to put our credit card in before filling up. Lucky we asked English speaking people what to do! – The guy in the queue behind us decided to use a different bowser!



Ros’s turn to ride. The rest of the ride was wet – then dry…and after we were dry…it rained again!!! ***
Finally we hit Paris. Oh boy did we know it…..the traffic was insane! It took us nearly two hours to get from the outskirts of Paris into the centre, where we’re staying (roughly 10km in nearly 2 hours!) Also it didn’t help that we had no GPS.... so Rose turned on her phone GPS but navigating through windy and hidden streets with hard to read street names….we made many wrong turns! However we were still talking to each other by the time we arrived!

There are no lane structures and the traffic was heavy! To ride in Paris; one must find any gap necessary and take it whilst maintaining peripheral vision as the traffic around you is doing exactly the same thing. There were thousands of Scooters, fewer motorbikes, bicycles, cars, buses, trucks and 3 seater bicycles carrying tourists….it was hilarious and bewildering at the same time. Road users check their blind spots regularly here… ...you can imagine how hard it must have been navigating through traffic whilst looking for a gap and the correct turn to take … as soon as Pol took the wrong turn the phone GPS took a while to reroute…and we found ourselves doing more wrong turns!!



This is the street we are staying on ….One way…in St Germaine (many one way streets there)… at this point we were tired, thirsty and hungry only to find that the GPS didn’t anticipate road works. Our accommodation is near the end of the street the pic is taken on… after 2 hours of driving 8km in heavy and almost suicidal traffic, there was no way we were going to find another way around to get to our accommodation…so we went on the footpath. We took both side panniers off and Pol drive through on the footpath which would barely fit the width of the bike. Rose followed behind with both panniers – one each arm!



…once we squeezed through!





Finally found accommodation address and secure motorbike parking. Once we got off, locked the bike and took a deep breath; we both decided we were not going to touch the bike until we leave Paris!





The accommodation was more than miniature! You can sleep, use the toilet and shower almost all at the same time - without having to move much! You can't actually shut the door while sitting on the toilet (as Ros found out!) We never imagined we would have to use a bathroom smaller than Athens!!!! We take it in turns to stand up and walk around while the other one sits down…This place was cramped!!!!!








Our first meal in Paris. We were starving from the riding. We hadn’t finished our meal and the waiter wanted payment as he was finishing his shift!

St Germain, where we’re staying, is full of eclectic cafés and bars. Everyone sits out the front and people watches...you see many different fashions. We’re in an arty area.





Ros having a nap after the day’s proceedings – and a belly full of chicken!





































Later in the evening (it doesn’t get dark until 10pm), we took a walk down the river Seine toward Notre Dame. The foot bridges had ‘love locks’ on them where people can write their names on locks and lock their love in – onto the bridge…The buildings are amazing – the architecture of every building we passed was spectacular.





You never know what you’re going to find in the Parisian streets – here’s a bathtub in a laneway!

Tuesday 14th July 2015 – Tour Day













We started our day at Notre Dame. We saw the queue to enter Notre Dame…and thought…’oh no’…..but it moved fairly quickly. There were so many tourists inside…while in the meantime there was a mass. There were signs to ask tourists to ‘shhhhhh’.





There were so many government buildings with incredible architecture.













We walked into a Parisian petshop….there was every imaginable animal…ferrets, snakes, squirrels, mice, birds, dogs, cats, geckos, lizards…





















Then we walked through the Louvre (the museum was closed as they were doing something inside..) However it was still amazing to see the grand architecture!

























From the Louvre, we walked into the Jardin for a rest. Then all of a sudden we heard shouting and looked up to see protests going on…(all day we had been hearing non-stop police sirens, some roads were blocked and a lot of police officers guarding blocked roads. We wondered what was going on…). There was a lot of police presence throughout Paris – especially riot squad crews at the Concorde.




















Next we hired one of those 3 seater tourist bikes to go from Concorde up the Champs-Elysees (reminded us of ‘Pretty Woman’) to the Arc de Triumphe. The poor guy having to peddle with us on the back. We felt like we were lazy just sitting there while he was doing all the hard work. Full on going on one of those up such a busy street and around one of the busiest roundabouts in the world!! The roundabout which is around 8 lanes wide, has no lane structure, and against natural roundabout instincts, we had to stop in the middle of the roundabout to give way to the right! So glad we didn’t have to ride our bike around here! Chaos!

At each pedestrian crossing towards the Arc de Triumphe were policemen directing traffic and pedestrians as the traffic lights weren’t operating. Some pedestrians stopped in the middle of the road to get selfies of the Arc de Triumphe and police were quick to move them on.




Finally we got to the Eiffel Tower, which we had intended on going up, but it was closed due to Fireworks that night. We later found out it was Bastille Day (equivelant to our Australia Day), and there were helicopters flying in sets of three overhead all morning. (We seem to have a habit of arriving in major cities during busy times – Athens and the referendum – and now this!).

From there we walked back to St Germain (Pol’s fitbit said we had taken 13,500 footsteps so far).




Can you believe it is 730pm? The light outside feels like it’s lunch time. We are on our way to Mont Martre for dinner.




Paris Metro




From the subway near Mont Martre we didn’t think we had much of a walk ahead to get to Le Coq Rico – a chicken restaurant – however we did not anticipate it will all be uphill… by the time we took this pic..we had been walking up hill for a good 15mins…to discover these stairs…







The view from Sacre Coeure – at the top – spectacular!




Dinner at Le Coq Rico (The bistro of beautiful birds), famous for their chicken. We were thinking of ordering a whole chicken but decided on quarter each (thank god!). Amazing chicken, Fritz, salad and Burgundy wine! We were full and happy.




This is the crowd we had to walk through to get to the Metro. People everywhere due to Bastille Day celebrations...From Mont Martre you could see fireworks over the city.

Wednesday 15th July 2015

Chilled day for day for us today….life like a Parisian





Trying to keep up with journaling!
Ros and Pol at a random St Germaine Café – The coffee is amazing in Paris. Didn’t know coffee could taste so good!








Ros choosing Pol’s first Crepe from Paris. Nutella crepe.
Delicious!!!!!




























Jardin De Luxenbourg – A nearby park to where we’re staying…
As soon as we went through the gates to the park we saw guards boarding a bus. It was a strange sight watching men line up with old style swords.
…Nice stroll through the park, beautiful sunny weather (33degrees). Stopped for tea…
















Next we stoped by Saint Suplice church in St Germain. In some ways this was more beautiful than Notre Dame as there were no people and the design and paintwork was extraordinary.




This was taken in the afternoon….Polly was sold on the crepes…except this time Pol ordered crepe with nutella and kinder..while Ros ordered banana and crème.




Rose for you?









Then we headed into the Latin Quarter...which we timed perfectly with happy hour!